Author: Max Tranter n9506659

The goal of testing for this game is to get feedback on how the world feels to play in, whether the characters are well written and if they fit in the game world.

Method

The method of testing will be to open the game for the player and give them no information before playing, this way we can see if the game makes sense without outside direction as well as let the player play the way they would with no one watching. After the first play through we give the player more information and ask them to play with certain goals in mind.

Questions and feedback

How does the atmosphere of the game feel?

1 It feels dark and scary

2 feels kind of like a horror game

3 cold and lonely

4 like a cold night

5 very empty and dark

Do you feel like the characters design fit the theme of the world?

1 The main character kind of stood out but the other 2 did for sure.

2 I think they were all fine nothing weird or anything

3 I think the main characters blue really stuck out with a dark background

4 The main characters colour scheme was really a spot of blue in a dark map I get that she is meant to be a doctor but it’s still really bright

5 I think the 2 characters that aren’t the main are really good

Do you feel like the main character has motivation in the game?

1 as far as I can tell

2 yeah I mean she is a mother right

3 If her goal is to save her child yeah

4 Its weak but it’s there

5 Yes to save the child but other than that not really

How does the flow of the game feel?

1 it’s short so I can’t really say on flow

2 it feels fine

3 it was a short game

4 yeah I dunno its not much of a game

5 there was no flow

Do you like the idea of making moral choices in a video game?

1 yeah I feel like this game is a good starting point

2 I do like the idea but I’m not sure how it would work in this game

3 I think making someone question their morality is a cool concept

4 It would be good if this game did that

5 I like the idea but I would like to play it first

Summary

After testing I have found that most people find the game world to be good at setting a dark tone for the game however the character design of the main character pulls away from the dark cold theme the world creates. Additionally the players were unable to play through the whole game but had had the script for the dialogue shown to them in order to know if the dialogue would fit the characters, most said it was written well enough but very chicle.

For the prototype, this one of the challenges that we have discussed that might be used in our games. It tries to offer the player multiple ways to get around an obstacle depending on your morals as a person. Some options may be easier than others but in the full game, these decisions would punish the player for wrongful actions.

Task two)

Getting past the guard:

The player has the choices of:

Persuading him

Bribery

Distracting him

Murdering him

Majority of these choices will be conveyed but a speech / action popup, highlighting what the character can do with the person they are interacting with.

If the player decides to try and persuade the guard, they will have successfully choose the right dialogue prompts to convince him to let you through. If the player gets them wrong, after a few tries it doesn’t become an option any more. To bribe the guard, the player would have to explore around the map and find some money to give him. Once some money is found, a dialogue prompt will allow the player to give it to him. To distract the guard, the player will have to explore the map and find something that might interest the guard, luring him away. To murder the guard, the player would have to find or obtain a weapon from around the environment which unlocks a prompt.

Once one choice has been made, the other options become locked off. Unable to redo them unless playing the game over.

As part of the choices, if the player decides to do something cruel or evil, the other characters will take notice of this. If throughout the game the player consistently does these kind of actions, some dialog options or actions become locked off.

Survival:

The player has the choices of:

Get people to help you

Force people to help you

Blame other people

Don’t talk to people

Majority of these choices will be conveyed but a speech / action popup, highlighting what the character can do with the person they are interacting with. Some things, if done around the environment, can lead to a chain of events that happens around the player.

Some of these choices can be accomplished simply by talking to the people around the player, choosing certain dialogue prompts. Others can be accomplished by picking up certain items and giving them to people, causing certain events to take place or extra dialogue options. When enough of these are done, the world around the player will change and new areas will become unlocked.

Once one choice has been made, the other options become locked off. Unable to redo them unless playing the game over.

As part of the choices, if the player decides to do something cruel or evil, the other characters will take notice of this. If throughout the game the player consistently does these kind of actions, some dialog options or actions become locked off. If the player doesn’t talk to others, others will be less likely to help you when you need them further on.

Task 3)

As the text can be hard to read, this is what it says:

Guard in the way

Persuade the guard, letting you pass

Find some money and bribe the guard

Find a way to distract the guard

Find a weapon and murder the guard.

There are many choices that can be made through out the game, however, seeing as we are making a prototype, it won’t have as many choices as the full game. The team and I will decide on the major ones that we want to focus on so that our player experience goals come through.

The core game play for our games will be focused on conversations with characters in the game world and making hard decisions where someone will lose out possibly yourself if you think it’s for the greater good. The game will give you decisions where you have to either help someone by sacrificing something of your or ignoring them to keep that small benefit you have. The game will push the player to make difficult moral decisions however if the player sacrifices themselves too much or ignores all others there will be consequences.

10 player stories

<Playing as nurse> <I help a sick person> but that <cost me $5>

As a <player | nurse> I want <money from helping soldiers> to <helping other sick people> to achieve <a healthy population>

As a <player | nurse> I want <sick person> to <give them drugs> to <help them get better>

As a <player | nurse> I want <to help lots of sick people> to <be a good person>

As a <player | nurse> I want <to be a good person> therefor <I spend my money> to <help the sick that come to me>

As a <player | nurse> I need <money to help the sick> however <I can only earn money from helping the enemy>

As a <player | nurse> have <money> that means now <I can help more sick people>

As a <player | nurse> am in danger<because of helping the sick> however <I think its morally right to help them>

As a <player | nurse> I am rewarded <with a medal> because of <all the sick people I have>

As a <player | nurse> I want <to survive> in order to <I need money> so that <when I earn enough I can escape>

Sally is a girl who is just entering adulthood and therefor has a lot to discover about living on her own making hard life choices etc. Because of the focus on self-discovery we wanted to make games that make the player choose between many different moral choices small and large, these decisions are what will captivate Sally and many players like her.

Story 1 – this story focuses on the sacrifice of one’s self in order to help someone less fortunate than you, this story will interest Sally because she will have to question herself “is helping someone worth giving up my money when I don’t know them”?

Story 6 – This is similar to the last story in the way that it makes Sally question herself, if she wants to help the sick she needs the money which she can only get from doing something morally the opposite or she could take the money she earns from helping the enemy and use it for herself.

Story 10 – focused on money again Sally will need to question her morals and whether they are worth giving up on in order for her own survival.

All three of these stories are focused on questioning your own morals as we have identified Sally as someone who is entering a new stage of her life she will have to make these decisions as well as understand her own morals and what really worth holding onto and knowing when to let go of something for the greater good.